distinctive feature

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noun Linguistics.

a feature of the sound system of a language that serves as the crucial distinguishing mark between two phonemes, as the distinctive feature of voicing, which distinguishes b from p in English, or nasality, which distinguishes m from b and p.

any of a set of phonetic properties, as coronal, nasal, or strident, serving as a basic unit of phonological analysis by which the sounds that are significant in a language can be characterized and distinguished from one another.

a component or phonetic feature characterizing a phoneme.

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Origin of distinctive feature

First recorded in 1925–30

Words nearby distinctive feature

distillery, distillment, distinct, distinction, distinctive, distinctive feature, distinctiveness ratio, distinctly, distingué, distinguée, distinguish

How to use distinctive feature in a sentence

When the researchers examined the specimens’ teeth and jaws, they found distinctive features suggesting they were looking at three previously unrecognized species.
Meet the cat-sized mammals that thrived after the dinosaurs died|Claire Maldarelli|August 18, 2021|Popular-Science
After six “generations,” or episodes of transmission, the rhythms produced by participants showed distinctive features depending on these constraints.
What Misspellings Reveal About Cultural Evolution - Facts So Romantic|Helena Miton|July 30, 2021|Nautilus
Its distinctive feature is an extra-long back zipper that runs all the way to the base of the spine, which founder Abigail Lorick says was designed to make it easy to take the suit on and off, especially for women with wider hips.
There’s Never Been a Better Time to Buy a Sustainable Wetsuit|wtaylor|July 23, 2021|Outside Online
The most distinctive feature of the vaccine trials was their speed.
Clinical trials are better, faster, cheaper with big data|MIT Technology Review Insights|June 10, 2021|MIT Technology Review

The shark’s most distinctive feature is the long curving fins that swoop out from its sides.
An ancient shark’s weird fins helped it glide like a manta ray|Carolyn Gramling|March 18, 2021|Science News
Grindr introduced the feature themselves in October the same year and called it ‘tribes.’
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Jourdan Dunn is the first sole black woman to feature on a British ‘Vogue’ cover in 12 years.
One Vogue Cover Doesn’t Solve Fashion’s Big Race Problem|Danielle Belton|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Bad weather is a feature of hundreds of flights across the world every day.
Did Bad Weather Bring Down AirAsia 8501?|Clive Irving|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He reminisces about the features of Texas life that make Texas its own, distinctive community.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Common sense is not a just a normative judgment about wisdom, but a structural feature of any functioning organization.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is a feature by means of which it is always possible to distinguish the Great Horsetail from any other species.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
Each is surrounded by a gelatinous capsule, which is its distinctive feature (Fig. 9).
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
He seemed to know right where to look, which was another feature of the play that I didn't sabe at the time.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
In dramatic interpretation the voice is a much more significant feature relatively than is the detail of gesture in pantomime.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
My coup-d'œil assured me that it was practicable to give to this feature the character of a projecting under-jaw.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

distinctive feature

Origin of distinctive feature

Words nearby distinctive feature

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How to use distinctive feature in a sentence